State, Market, and Society

State, Market, and Society

The market is an area of the economy whose widening and improving depends on sustainable growth and an effective fight against poverty. Market development has been very uneven among and within the countries in the region: major segments of the population and property remain outside the market economy, and rent-seeking situations persist, which limit the development of productive capacity. It is necessary to develop government institutions and public policies that will create the conditions and incentive systems conducive to the efficient, competitive operation of a market economy, which is a core requirement for dynamic growth and job creation, in a context of increasing worker productivity. At the same time, the reforms necessary to improve and widen markets with the two-pronged objective of increasing their efficiency and inclusiveness, cannot be achieved without implementing wide partnership mechanisms between the different economic and social agents. The development of wider markets, that favor the inclusion of sectors of the population that are at present excluded, but that are also more efficient and capable of competing in the global economy, is the double objective of the policies and institutions that are referred to in this section.

In this context, the State, Governance and Civil Society Division will support programs and projects that aim to (i) improve economic and social regulatory institutions to promote market competition and the safeguarding of public interest and vulnerable groups; (ii) support institutions that design and promote active development policies; (iii) support institutions that widen market opportunities for excluded sectors; (iv) support the establishment and development of social partnership institutions and instruments for the design and implementation of the necessary reforms for the improvement and widening of markets, and (v) support institutions that ensure an environmental governance for sustainable development.